Screw Removal on a Vintage Winchester

[Speedo66]

I just received my original '73, made in 1889, back from a local gunsmith who removed a screw for me. I had tried days of letting it sit with PB Blaster, Kroil, heat, cold, tapping with a screwdriver, etc. Half of the head of the screw finally split off when I applied too much pressure, off to the smith for removal.

He drilled it out, said it came out nicely, leaving clean threads. it was a tiny screw that holds a small leaf tension spring for the dust cover. The spring keeps the cover from flopping around. The spring had broken who knows when, and is probably why the dust cover is gone, lost to history.

He replaced the screw and spring with original replacements I provided, and the gun now has a repro dust cover back on it.

Since it kept my frustrated head from exploding, I figure his fee of $39 was money well spent. :shock:

Anyone have a simple method of making a modern blued dust cover look vintage brown to match the rest of the rifle? :razz:

[BrentD]

strip the bluing off, re-rust blue. Do may 3-4 coats then stop boiling and just let the metal brown, carding each time like you would if you were doing a normal rust blue, but just don't boil. When you get it to the color you want, stop and rub down with a solution of baking soda to kill the acid. If it needs a little wear, put a dab of SimiChrome paste on your hand and fondle the piece a bit to put wear on the high spots, corners and edges. That should get you where you want to be.

[cajun shooter]

It will get there if you have a little more time on this piece of terra firma we occupy. OK now for my more serious answer. You may take some bluing remover or a good rust remover and the new bluing will be gone. Then use a bluing pen like the ones made by Birchwood Casey and apply that. It will provide a splotch like finish on your first attempt. If you want to age it more, just use some very fine steel wool and oil to the areas that need it.
You could also look on the different forums for a older used cover that has the natural way already there. Later David

[Speedo66]

Thanks for the answers, I'll try and "antique" mine. A decent genuine vintage dust cover now costs about or more than what I paid for my rifle some years ago. Lots of the old '73's no longer have dust covers, so the covers available have risen accordingly.